3°4 NIEPODLEGLOSCThe temper of political life was unremittingly radical. All the leading person-
alities of the 192,0s from Wincenty Witos the Peasant leader and three times
Premier, to Ignacy Daszynski, the Socialist, and to Pilsudski himself, professed
distinctly radical ideas. Even the National Democrats, who formed the main
opposition both to the early coalition governments and to the later Sanacja
regime, must be described as 'Right-Radicals' whose stance on most issues of
the day was anything but conservative. The traditional conservative move-
ments, such as those which had once operated in Galicia or were centred on the
clerical and landowning interests, were relegated to sulky subordination. A soci-
ety in which two-thirds of the population was engaged in subsistence agriculture
and where one-third consisted of national minorities, could hardly afford the
gradualist, liberal climate of prosperous and well-established western countries.
The task of reintegrating Polish society into a coherent whole began as soon
as the Second Republic was created. The task was formidable. The material
resources, and as it proved the time available, were extremely limited.
According to the Census of 1921, the geographical distribution of the popula-
tion put 2.5 per cent in the towns and 75 per cent in the countryside; the occupa-
tional structure was made up of manual workers (27 per cent, of which almost
half were agricultural labourers); peasants (65 per cent); intelligentsia and
professions (5 per cent); entrepreneurs (2 per cent) and landowners (under 1
per cent). Yet statistical analysis does little to describe the full extent of social
problems. Old loyalties and old patterns of behaviour died hard. The impact of
new all-Polish institutions — Schools, Civil Service, Taxation, Army — was
bound to be slow. Little could be done by way of financial initiatives to subsi-
dize significant common enterprises. Industrialization continued modestly in
channels forged before independence. Inevitably perhaps, tensions increased.
Indeed, in the 1930s, serious polarization was observable both between the state
authorities and the masses, and between the dominant Polish majority and the
other national minorities. One of the few factors militating for social cohesion
was to be found abroad, where the repellent prospect of incorporation into Nazi
Germany or Stalinist Russia gave all Polish citizens, irrespective of their differ-
ences, a strong sense of common interest. (See Diagram D.)
In a rural society, agrarian problems automatically took priority. At first,
great hopes were placed in Land Reform, as demanded by the PSL. On 10 July
1919, the Sejm declared in favour of breaking up estates of more than 400
hectares; and on 15 July 1920, at the height of the Red Army's offensive, a law
was passed providing for the purchase of surplus land at half its market value.
Neither action brought results. Finally on 20 July 1925, at the third attempt, the
Sejm set a minimum target of 200,000 hectares per annum to be parcelled out
among the peasants at full market value. Altogether, between 1919 and 1938,
2,655,000 hectares passed into peasant hands; over one-fifth of the landed estates
of Church, State, and private landowners were diminished, and 734,000 new
holdings were created. In itself, this was a considerable achievement. But in the
event, it did little to relieve the pressure on the land or the poverty of the multi-